Echo
by Zombie Reine
Summary: Hermione doesn't want to fight anymore and considered her death a welcome relief. However, the world, nature, fate, destiny, or whatever you want to call it, has other plans. Now Hermione has a choice to make- let history play out the way it's supposed to and allow the world to find it's own balance or interfere and change everything.
1. Prologue

**AN:** I'm still working on Ten Years but this plot bunny wouldn't stop thumping around in my head so I decided to appease it a bit and just work on both stories. I also rarely write in first person but decided to give it a go, don't judge me too harshly.

**Thanks to my beta, and good friend, Evvy.**

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I look down at the dark wet grass and it takes me a moment to realize it's soaked in blood, and that I am now covered in it. I find it hard to care, though, because Harry is gone so what does it matter? My own blood would probably soon be joining it and there was no reason for me to panic and try to get it off of me. I'm wandering aimlessly among the dead and still fighting, most had given up and left after Harry and Neville's deaths but the ones who remained behind fought with all they were worth knowing that this was the last stand and if they left they would all just slowly be hunted down and killed anyway. That was no life worth living, I knew it, they knew it.

It didn't take long for someone to notice me, it was a surprise though that it ended up being Voldemort. It was like a cold bucket of water drenched me and I snapped out of my daze, how could I have been so selfish? I wasn't the only one who lost loved ones today and I just gave up that fast. Immediately I felt shame coursing it's way through me, Harry was gone but so what? Why did it have to be Harry who kills Voldemort? The only Horcrux left was Nagini, I could have escaped and rallied a small group of survivors to at least attempt to destroy his Horcrux. At least that way he would be mortal again, it would have been a matter of time before he died from natural or unnatural causes.

"Potter's mudblood." The cold words brought my attention back towards the vile creature who had taken so much from me. I felt a wave of disgust and hatred for him that was so strong it surprised me, I didn't know I could feel these vile emotions so clearly. They were burning through my very being and were destroying whatever pity or forgiveness I could have lent to this monster or any of his minions.

"Tom Riddle." My voice came out mockingly as I called him by his real name, and I even dared to give him a sarcastic bow, I was going to die here so I may as well go down as bravely as I could, it was time to show everyone that the hat was not mistaken when it made me a Gryffindor. Hermione Granger was not so easily broken.

His red eyes glinted and his slitted nostrils flared, he was furious and it was my fault, at least I can die satisfied in this. My expression must have been smug because something he saw on my face seemed to set him off. One moment he was schooling his face back into a cold expression and the next I was on the ground with my limbs flailing and churning in the mud. While my screams tore from my throat as pain engulfed every nerve in my body a small part of me could appreciate the irony of literally being covered in mud made from blood.

And just like that the pain was over and I lay there panting, eyes wide open and staring at the sky wishing that this could all end now. I was so tired of running and being hurt I just wanted it to end so I could join the people I love. But fate had other plans, it seems that the quick deaths afforded Harry and Ron would be denied me.

Sure enough Voldemort began moving his wand, and a jet of orangish yellow light shot at me and tore through my leg, causing a large gash to appear, blood spilling out and soaking my jeans. While the pain was nowhere near as painful as his, or even Bellatrix's, cruciatus it still caused a scream of pain to leave me and my hands darted for the wound out of instinct, quickly trying to put pressure and stop the bleeding.

Voldemort's high pitched laugh broke through my pain laced mind and I glared up at him. I was unable to stand and I wouldn't have been able to tower over him if I could, but still I did my best to look down at him from my sitting position. He was filth, disgusting, evil, vile, depraved, loathsome, revoltin, hateful- Another shot of pain rushed through me as he once again sent the curse at me, this time it hit my abdomen and the pain felt unbearable. Oh Merlin why is this happening why me why everything, was this really going to happen? All the talk of love and light winning over darkness, was it always just hope people told themselves so they could ignore the truth?

For some unknown, unexplainable reason I began to laugh. It sounded wet to my ears and I realized that I'm laughing up blood, and for some reason I found that even funnier because I start to laugh harder even though it hurts. Oh sweet Morgana did it hurt, the pain wasn't phasing me anymore though, it was like my brain or body had had enough and wasn't registering it. My face tilted up and I literally laughed in Voldemort's face.

I may as well have been laughing in the face of death.

"You can't win." The words had pierced the night air and I knew that I spoke truth, because I realized why I was laughing. We didn't just tell ourselves love and goodness would win to give us hope, we said these things because they were true. No matter how dark the world got as long as there was a smidgen of light, it would grow, banish the darkness. It was like a never ending match of tug-o-war. Voldemort would fall, and yes eventually someone else would come along and upset the balance but they wouldn't last. History repeats itself after all.

"I already have. Your precious Potter is dead, I am immortal, there is nothing in the world that can stop me now." His words held their own conviction and as I slowly bled out and as I endured painful curse after curse, I refused to break my eye contact with him.

Finally, Voldemort tired of his games, and really it was about time because I had been so weary for so long myself. It was like a sigh of relief when the familiar green curse flashed my way and engulfed my very being, and right when the spark of life left my body it was a small victory knowing he could never make me hurt again.

And then the world ended.

**AN:** So, what did everyone think of the Prologue? Next chapter begins the Tomione, I promise.


	2. Chapter One

**AN:** Going to keep this AN short and sweet, enjoy chapter one and special thanks to my reviewers; **BelvaRoze**, **AndreaLion**, **Hermione Voldemort Riddle**, **BrightestWitchOfHerAge16** and **sks**.

**Disclaimer (Because I feel I should put at least one somewhere in my story in case any of you actually mistook my mediocre writing as J.K. Rowling's):** I do not own Harry Potter and I am making no money from this Fanfiction. Everything you recognize is not of my own creation and belongs to their respective owners, the only things I can claim are the ideas that I plucked from my mind.

**Reviews to anonymous replies can be found here ****just remove the spaces****** **_fanfiction . net_****/**_**topic/120357/74491747/1/#74491747**_

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_I dreamed a dream in time gone by_  
_When hope was high_  
_And life worth living_

_I Dreamed a Dream - Les Miserables_

***·***

Everything is black and I feel like I'm floating in an ocean of nothing and everything. Memories flood my mind filling me with every emotion I had ever felt; happiness, sadness, frustration, pain, anger, love and so much more. My senses are overwhelmed and yet starving for something, anything that is more than a memory. My skin touches nothing, no breath enters or leaves me, I am alone and can sense everything yet nothing at all.

I cannot comprehend fully what is happening, and honestly, I don't even care. Perhaps this is what death is, this anxious emptiness mixed with such deep longing that for once I can empathize with Voldemort's desire to live forever. Here everything seems pale, there is no vividness of life or passion, just the fleeting dreams of days gone past.

Someone once said that heaven was the landscape of ones own soul, and if this is true, mine must be bleak and lonely.

I have no idea how long this lasts for I cannot count days or keep track of time, it could have been seconds or it could have been centuries, I know not. Eventually, thank Merlin, something changed. It started like a tugging in my midsection and I was slowly pulled up through whatever I was in, it felt similar to surfacing from a lake after you had nearly drowned to death.

When I first came to my whole body was swamped with pain, such unbearable, real pain that for a second I thought I might die all over again just from the shock of it.

My eyelids were heavy and refused to open, my ears strained harder to try and catch bits of the conversation going on around me but no matter how hard I tried my limbs wouldn't obey me and stayed firmly unmoving on what felt like a mattress. Not the most comfortable one but soft enough that wherever I am it couldn't be a dungeon of some sorts. Not unless they started treating their prisoners nicely, I could just imagine Voldemort inquiring after my health and offering me tea and biscuits. If I had the ability to function properly past the basic needs to stay alive I'm sure I would have been unable to stop myself from laughing, and considering how much pain was throbbing in my body, would have caused me even more agony at his expense.

Eventually the pain and bone deep weariness took over and I drifted off into a painless sleep.

* * *

_"No, no, no. Not there, over here." A stout woman with black wavy hair was pointing at a man carrying around a giant grandfather clock. When he made it to where she was point he set it down and moved it until she was satisfied with it's position._

_"Excuse me." I tried to call out to the pair, but neither looked my way as the woman seemingly changed her mind and made the man pick the heavy monstrosity back up and once again move it to another position in the clearing._

_"That's good William, right there." The womans voice was commanding and loud and the whole situation was just leaving me confused. What was going on here? Actually, how did I even get here?_

_"Excuse me!" I tried again, calling out even louder to the couple and sighing in relief as they stopped what they were doing to turn around and look at me._

_The man remained expressionless but the woman lit up like a muggle light bulb as she came bounding towards me in order to envelope me in a motherly hug._

_"Oh dear, oh dear, you're here." She was brimming with excitement as she looked me over, "Finally. We've been waiting a long time for you don't you know." She pointed to the man, or perhaps it was the clock, before grabbing my hand and pulling me over to the two. When I was no more than a foot away from the lot they strange woman spoke up again, "William, tell her how long we've been waiting for her."_

_"We've been waiting a very long time." The man intoned, practically monotonous in his answer. They were an odd bunch to be sure and I couldn't help but want to get away from them, even though I felt no hostility I had a foreboding that wouldn't shake itself from my being._

_"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you wait." I apologized, wishing I knew why they were waiting for me specifically._

_"All in good time dear, all in good time." The woman grabbed my hand and patted it warmly, "For now though I need to show you something. Yes, yes, show you it I must. Come along now."_

_Once again I found myself being led away, this time it was towards a ledge I had never seen before. I could have sworn I was in a clearing surrounded completely by trees before, but now it was a half clearing with trees on one side and a cliff on the other._

_"What are you going to show me?" The words came out slightly cracked as we neared the ledge, I really didn't want to go near it but my legs were not mine to control anymore. A sense of panic started to flutter through my stomach and rise up, nearly choking me._

_"That you need to let go." The woman replied, cheery as ever, her gray eyes merry as she pushed me over the cliffside._

* * *

With a start I woke up, eyes blinking as they tried to adjust to the brightness of the room. As my eyes slowly became used to the room I carefully took in my surroundings only to realize I was in a very familiar room, I had spent a lot of my time in here through the years. But why was I in the Hogwarts infirmary and why did it look different? Sure the overall layout and feel of it was the same but the furnishings were changed, older looking. Perhaps the hospital wing had been ransacked and they couldn't repair all the furnishings, leaving them to take these out of storage?

Shaking my head I gingerly sat up, the pain from earlier was almost completely gone leaving just a twinge of pain in my midsection accompanied by a wave of nausea, I was really going to be sick. Leaning over the bed I retched and dry heaved but nothing came up, making me once again wonder how long had it been since I had last eaten. As if it could hear me my stomach growled as I slowly laid myself back down on the bed, perspiring a little from the exertion. I hated being weak like this, my body must have expired all its energy trying to heal as fast as possible and I was now dealing with the consequences.

"Miss, you're awake." The voice was feminine and laced with surprise and I turned head to take in an elderly woman with steely gray hair and kind, blue eyes, "You gave us quite a fright."

The woman made her way towards me, pulling out her wand and casting spells at me. I recognized a few of them, they were diagnostic and healing charms, one minty green color in particular was a welcome relief as it instantly cleared up the queasy feeling that had remained a persistent bother ever since I woke up.

"I did?" My confusion must have been evident because the older witch gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze before handing me a vial I had not even noticed on the night stand.

"Indeed, we were all very worried when you showed up, and quite puzzled as to how you came to be in your condition." She handed the now uncorked vial to me and waited expectantly until I choked the nasty concoction down, you would think someone would have come up with a way to make these things taste better by now. With what was sure to be a face full of disgust I handed the thing back to her, and she took it satisfied.

I wonder, though, why the woman would be surprised about her condition, there was a war going on. Surely some collateral damage was to be expected, and where exactly was Madame Pomfrey? She couldn't be? The vile thought that the matron had died during the battle rose in my throat and nearly choked me, surely she was okay and this other woman was just an assistant? Something was wrong.

"If you'll just wait here dear I must get the Headmaster, hes been quite adamant about wanting to ask you a few questions as soon as you were better." With one last kind look the elderly woman bustled off towards her office, most likely to floo whoever was now Headmaster of Hogwarts, which verified that I was indeed in the school. What surprised me though was that Professor McGonagall was not the Headmistress last I had seen her she was perfectly healthy and fine, but then again Voldemort would probably want to make an example of her.

A cold chill made it's way down my spine, I had died in that field right in front of him and his Death Eaters, I know I had. The niggling feeling at the back of my mind didn't like being silenced and it rose again telling me that something was wrong. I honestly didn't want to listen to it, just for once I wanted to have a moment of normalcy or peace, to pretend everything was okay. For now I wanted it to let me remain blissfully ignorant for a moment, at least concrete proof before I make any rash or inaccurate decisions.

The Headmaster must have received an owl or perhaps a floo from the nurse, because in walked two wizards and I felt myself grow still as panic rose inside me.

It looks like I found my proof.


End file.
